Sept. 15, 2006
Head Women's basketball coach Dan Durkin has announced the addition of Kelli Costa (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth), Keri Pryor (Morgantown, W. Va./Morgantown) and Samantha Thompson (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) to the 2006-07 roster.
Pryor, a 5-11 guard, joined the Dukes as a late signing and will help solidify the wing. She averaged 23.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for her Morgantown Mohigans last year. She was named a first team All-North Central Athletic Conference (NCAC) and as the West Virginia Player of the Year. Pryor earned All-State laurels, was tabbed the Dominion Post Player of the Year and as the West Virginia All-Star game Player of the Year. Pryor was also a McDonald's All-American nominee and was a teammate of fellow DU newcomer Amanda Peck. Her major is sports marketing.
"Keri was a great late season signing for us," says Coach Durkin. "She is a quick, versatile wing that has the potential to be a very good player in the Atlantic 10. She will help us on the defensive end with her rebounding and offensively she'll help get us to the foul line more."
The 5-7 Costa comes to Duquesne as a walk-on addition and will help solidify the guard spot. A four-time All-Section pick, she helped lead her Avonworth High squad to a four-year mark of 93-16 over her prep career. She helped lead her squad to the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) Class AA championship with a 28-1 mark as a senior averaging 16.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. An Associated Press All-State selection, she graduated as Avonworth's all-time leading scorer with 1,589 points and added 981 rebounds. Costa was named to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous Five team and was lauded as the Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Class AA Player of the Year. A sophomore academically, she is studying to be a physician's assistant.
"Kelli had a great career at Avonworth under Coach Bob Schultz and approached me last spring about walking on," says Durkin. "She has worked hard over the summer and is fitting in great with the team. Kelli was known as a shooter at Avonworth and we hope she continues that tradition here. She will primarily be used as an off guard."
Thompson is a 5-10 guard out of Saint Basil Academy in the Philadelphia area where she was a four-year starter. She concluded her prep career as the Academy's all-time leading scorer racking up 1,255 points. Thompson averaged 16.0 points and 7.0 assists per game leading the point as a senior. She earned first team all-league honors in 2004 and 2005 and was named a first team all-area pick in 2005. SBA reigned as the PIAA District 1 champion in 2003 and won the AACA title in 2005. Thompson was a member of the US Junior Olympic Mid-Atlantic Region team in 2003 and 2004 and was a 2005 Wendy's High School Heisman Regional finalist. She is a political science major.
"Samantha comes to us from an excellent program in the Philadelphia area," adds Durkin. "She is a real hard working and versatile guard who experienced a set-back with a knee injury going into her senior year. A good friend of mine gave me a call and said I have to look at Sam as a walk-on - and we did. She has good size and court awareness and we are happy to have her on board."
The three additions brings the 2006-07 roster to 14 student-athletes heading into coach Durkin's 14th season at Duquesne.
